Biz magazine ad revenue up nearly 10 in 2010, outperforming industry

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

The 13 business magazines reported ad revenue of $1.17 billion in 2010, up 9.6 percent from the previous year, far outpacing the 3.1 percent increase for the entire magazine industry, according to data released Monday by the Publishers Information Bureau and analyzed by Talking Biz News.

Ad pages also rose 7.2 percent to 11,245.61 for the business magazines, which also outperformed the 0.1 percent decline in ad pages for the entire industry.

The increases reverse two years of declines. In 2009, the 15 business magazines reported a 21.7 percent decline in ad revenue and a 28.7 percent decline in ad revenue. The 2010 comparison excludes the 2009 data from Fortune Small Business and Conde Nast Portfolio, both of which closed in 2009.

The business magazine with the biggest increase in ad revenue was Wired, which was up 35.8 percent to $84.9 million. The business title with the biggest increase in ad pages for the year was Fast Company, which saw a 26.5 percent jump to 538.95 pages.

The only business title that did not see an increase in ad pages or ad revenue was Forbes. Its ad pages fell 4.8 percent to 1,844.84 in 2010, but its ad revenue rose 0.6 percent to $252.9 million. In terms of ad revenue and ad pages, it remains the No. 1 title.

The No. 2 business magazine in both categories is Fortune, which reported a 6.8 percent increase in ad revenue to $195.3 million and a 1 percent increase in ad pages to 1,539.23.

The No. 3 business magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, reported a 6.3 percent increase in ad revenue to $172.7 million and a 3.5 percent increase in ad pages to 1,291.1.

Among the three personal finance titles, Money performed the best in terms of ad revenue with a 10.4 percent jump to $122.1 million, but Kiplinger’s Personal Finance performed the best in terms of ad pages, with a 9.3 percent increase to 305.97. Money and Smart Money still had more ad pages than Kiplinger’s.

The data for all magazines can be read here.